TONIGHT’S GAME
The Rangers will face-off against the St. Louis Blues at Madison Square Garden (7:00p.m. — TV: MSG Network; Radio: ESPN 98.7), in their seventh home game in an eight-game stretch. The Blueshirts currently rank second in the Metropolitan Division standings, and sixth in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 27-22-3 (57 pts). The Rangers enter the contest having been defeated by the New York Islanders, 5-3, on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, to end their winning streak at three games. The Blueshirts have won 11 of their last 16 games (11-4-1) and six of their last eight, and are tied for third in the conference in ROW (24). The Blues enter the contest with a 33-11-5 (71 pts) record to rank third in the Western Conference, and have lost four of their last six games. Following the contest, the Rangers will return to action when they face-off against the New Jersey Devils on Sunday, Jan. 26 (12:30 p.m.), in the 2014 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series at Yankee Stadium.

RANGERS vs. BLUES:All-Time: 75-40-16-0 overall (45-12-6-0 at home; 30-28-10-0 on the road)2013-14: Tonight is the second and final meeting this season, and the only meeting at Madison Square Garden. New York is 0-1-0 overall (0-0-0 at home; 0-1-0on the road), following a 5-3 loss on Oct. 12 at Scottrade Center. The Rangers power play was 2-5 (40.0%), with Ryan Callahan tallying two power play goals in the contest. Brad Richards (one goal, one assist) also registered two points in the game, while Derick Brassard and Derek Stepan recorded two assists apiece. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 16 of 17 shots in relief of Martin Biron (13-17, 40:00).Last Season: Did not play. In 2011-12, New York was 0-1-0 overall (0-0-0 mark at home; 0-1-0 mark on the road), following a 4-1 loss on Dec. 15, 2011, at Scottrade Center. Michael Del Zotto notched the lone goal for the Rangers, while Henrik Lundqvist stopped 32 of 35 shots faced.
The Rangers and Blues have been separated by two or fewer goals in 10 of their last 12 meetings dating back to Nov. 3, 2002, with eight of those contests being decided by one goal or fewer
New York is 12-12-3 at home; St. Louis is 15-6-3 on the road
New York is 8-8-0 vs. Western Conference opponents; St. Louis is 14-3-1 vs. Eastern Conference opponents

SPECIAL TEAMS:
The Rangers have notched a power play goal in eight of the last 10 games (9-35, 25.7%), including in each of the last three contests (3-13, 23.1% during the streak), and 13 of the last 18 (17-65, 26.2%)
The Rangers rank fifth in the league in combined PP% + PK% (104.9%)
Have tallied two or more power play goals in seven games this season
Tied for first in the league in 5-on-3 goals (five)
Posted a five-game power play goal scoring streak from Jan. 4 at TOR – Jan. 12 vs. PHI (6-18, 33.3% during the streak)Power Play: The Rangers were 1-4 (5:29) on Tuesday vs. NY Islanders. New York is tied for sixth in the NHL overall (37-176, 21.0%), and ranks 19th at home (17-98, 17.4%). The Rangers are 5-16 (6:55) in five-on-three situations (last – 1/19 vs. WSH), and 0-6 (6:56) when four-on-three (last – 1/19 vs. WSH). Shorthanded goals allowed (5): 10/8 at SJS (Vlasic); 10/24 at PHI (Read); 11/19 vs. BOS (Paille); 12/20 vs. NYI (Clutterbuck, PS); 12/20 vs. NYI (Grabner).Penalty Killing: The Blueshirts were 4-5 (5:37) on Tuesday vs. NY Islanders. New York is tied for eighth in the NHL overall (130-155, 83.9%), and 11th at home (65-78, 83.3%). The Rangers are 2-5 (3:54) in three-on-five situations (last – 1/19 vs. WSH), and 6-8 (6:06) when three-on-four (last – 1/21 vs. NYI). Shorthanded goals for (3): 10/7 at LAK (McDonagh); 12/27 at WSH (Hagelin); 1/19 vs. WSH (Callahan).Four-on-Four: New York did not tally/yield a goal in three four-on-four situations (2:53) on Tuesday vs. NY Islanders, and are now -3 in 59 four-on-four situations (93:07) this season. Four-on-four goals for (4): 10/16 at WSH (J. Moore); 10/26 at DET (Brassard); 12/12 vs. CBJ (Girardi); 12/18 vs. PIT (Hagelin). Four-on-four goals allowed (7): 10/3 at PHX (Vrbata); 10/7 at LAK (Muzzin); 10/12 at STL (Backes); 12/8 vs. WSH (Grabovski, PS); 12/18 vs. PIT (Sutter); 12/27 at WSH (Fehr); 1/6 vs. CBJ (Atkinson).

RICK ROLLING: Rick Nash enters the contest with a three-game goal streak (five goals during the streak), and has registered nine goals in the last nine contests. He has notched the game’s opening goal in each of the last two games, at 1:10 of the first on Sunday vs. Washington, and 1:02 of the first on Tuesday vs. NY Islanders. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last Rangers player to score a goal within the game’s opening 70 seconds in consecutive games was Jan Hlavac on Jan. 15, 2000 (0:50) and Jan. 16, 2000 (0:41). Nash was credited with the game-winning goal in four straight games in which he scored a goal from Jan. 10 vs. Dallas to Jan. 19 vs. Washington, becoming the first Blueshirt to do so since Tom Poti in 2003-04.

HOME SWEET HOME: The Rangers have registered a point in seven of their last nine games at Madison Square Garden (6-2-1), and nine of their last 12 at home (7-3-2). New York is currently playing a stretch of seven home games in an eight-game span, having already completed a four-game homestand with a 3-1-0 mark.

THE PUCK STOPS HERE: The Blueshirts have held opponents to two or fewer goals in 30 of 52 games this season, including seven of their last eight games and nine of their last 12. The Rangers have also allowed two or fewer goals in five of their last six games at home, and seven of their last nine at Madison Square Garden. New York is tied for fourth in the NHL in games with two goals or fewer allowed this season, and are 24-6-0 when holding opponents to two goals or less.

KING HENRIK: Henrik Lundqvist has held opponents to two goals or fewer in each of his last six games (5-1-0, 1.34 GAA, .958 Sv%, 1 SO), and is 7-2-1 with a 1.97 GAA, .937 Sv%, and one shutout in his last 10 appearances. Now in his ninth season, Lundqvist is seven wins away from the 300th of his NHL career, and eight wins away from Mike Richter’s franchise record of 301 career victories. He is also four appearances shy of Tiny Thompson for 50th on the NHL all-time goaltender appearances list.

EARLY ADVANTAGE: The Blueshirts have tallied the first goal of the game in six of their last eight contests, and are tied for fifth in the NHL with a record of 21-4-1 (.808 win%) when scoring the game’s first goal. The Rangers are also 13-4-1 when leading after the first period, and 17-1-1 when leading after the second.

SHOOTING GALLERY: The Blueshirts have out-shot their opponent in 16 of the last 21 games, holding a 731-622 shot advantage over their opponents during the stretch. The Rangers have registered 40 or more shots eight times this season, and have posted 30 or more shots in 20 of the last 25 contests. New York ranks fourth in the NHL with 32.4 shots per game.

ROAD WARRIORS: New York has won 13 of their last 17 road contests, including five of their last six, and are now 15-10-0 away from Madison Square Garden this season. The Rangers’ 15 road wins are tied for first in the Eastern Conference and second in the league overall. The Blueshirts power play ranks third in the NHL on the road, tallying 20-78 (25.6%) with the man advantage on the road. Henrik Lundqvist is 4-1-0 with a 2.36 GAA and .923 Sv% in his last five road games.

THE HOT LIST:
Henrik Lundqvist – Is 5-1-0 with a 1.34 GAA, .958 Sv%, and one shutout in his last six games, and 7-2-1 with a 1.97 GAA, .937 Sv%, and one shutout in his last 10
Rick Nash – three-game goal streak (five goals), and nine goals in the last nine contests
Derek Stepan – three-game point streak (two goals, three assists)
Brad Richards – three-game power play point streak (one goal, two assists), and 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in the last 10 games
Mats Zuccarello – has registered a point in five of the last eight games (three goals, two assists over the span), and has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in the last 13 games

COUNTDOWN TO 6K: The Rangers have played in 5,992 regular season games throughout the franchise’s 88 seasons, just eight games shy of 6,000 all-time. The Blueshirts are scheduled to play their 6,000th game all-time on February 6 against the Edmonton Oilers at Madison Square Garden.

Also found it interesting that BR would put down MDZ…who is pulling the strings? Like an older stud losing patience with the new young stud…thanks for sharing the story, Aaron. Leads me to worry that his buyout at season’s end may not be a given.

I didn’t get a chance to jump into the fray about the trade yesterday.

From a hockey perspective, I’ve got no problem with it. That’s what DZ’s value was worth at this current stage and it didn’t look like it was going to get any better when was either the 3LD or playing his off side as the 3RD. The Rangers finally conceded that his ceiling with this team had been reached so they traded the nebulous quality of untapped upside for a surer bet.

But this is another indictment on how poorly the Rangers have missed on early round draft picks. Not every player they pick has to turn into a star, in fact having a draft pick graduate to the NHL level is an accomplishment in and of itself, but the continual swings and misses at the best source of cap efficient talent is why the Rangers are always hoping that their next big free agent signing doesn’t turn into Holik/Gomez/Drury/Richards 2.0

I wish DZ the best of luck on his new team. Much like the crew that got sent to Columbus, I always had a soft spot for the homegrown crop of players that seemed to represent a culture change in the way the Rangers built their team.

CT spot on. Couldn’t have said it any better myself. Curious how long ago they conceded that about Del Z though. People felt AV’s style would give him a chance to flourish but in reality the new coach may have been the straw that broke the camels back . Sather even said in so many words last night that he had been on the chopping block for a while.

I’d actually be interested in seeing what this means for McIlrath. It would seem that barring injury they’re leaving him down in Hartford for the remainder of the season, which is for everyone’s benefit since he’s now missed significant time in his first two seasons down there and clearly not ready for regular NHL duty.

Given Sather’s comments it seems as if they’re intent on keeping Girardi. So would the plan going forward be keep Girardi as 1RD, slot Klein up to 2RD in the event Stralman walks and bring up McIlrath as 3RD? If they re-sign both Girardi and Stralman that can’t be a good sign for McIlrath as presumably all their RD will be signed to multiyear deals.

I expecting Klein to be Mike Sauer II.
If he works out and becomes 2nd pair RD, they may set Stralman free in the summer (i’m presuming Girardi is re-signed), but only if McIlrath is ready to make the step up.

Well, Stralman may become an interesting story. If he continues to be relied upon as a #2 on the R in NY, he will be difficult to resign. And if Sather continues to remind everyone that R handed defensemen are difficult to find in this league, as he did yesterday, then Sather is digging himself even a deeper hole.

It’s too bad about McIlrath. If he had developed into a good steady 2nd or even 3rd pairing d man who mad opponents constantly look over their shoulder, most of could have lived with that selection. Maybe he will but it does not look good. Cam Fowler, Jaden Schwartz, Vladimir Tarasenko, Nick Bjugstad, Charlie Coyle, Emerson Etem, and Brock Nelson were all picked after McIlrath in the first round that year.

How can Dylan McLlrath be a “too bad he could have been good” type story!? He’s *21* years old! He’s super young and had a devastating knee injury to recover from. He is still developing and will be here one day.

Was watching the Hawks/Wings game last night on NBC, and in between periods *Mike Milbury* was talking about *goalie fights* and how much he loves them (Fleury and the Habs backup ALMOST got into one last night, which is why the topic was brought up). Anyway, Milbury, Mr. Anti-Fighting, then went on to talk about a goalie fight between the Pens’ Johnson and Rick DiPietro, in which DiPietro got knocked out, if you remember. He was saying how that fight probably ended his career, and as he said this, he was almost chuckling. I swear, I also saw two horns growing out of his head as he was speaking. Remind me, how does this guy still have a job again?

From hockeysfuture:
The younger Beukeboom, a forward during much of his youth hockey career, has the ability to join the attack and has a hard shot. As expected, he is still dealing with learning the position and is sometimes caught outside the play. And he will need to improve his agility and read-and-respond time as he progresses to pro hockey. Beukeboom has a strong work ethic and is constantly seeking to improve.

Brent Johnson knocking out Rick DiPietro was a hysterical moment. One punch. But then Brent Johnson went on to attempt to get into more fights at every chance he had and eventually left the league. Because a backup that gets kicked out of the game isn’t a good backup.

Oh, and don’t get me wrong, I like goalie fights as much as the next guy (goalie fights are just so fantastic in every way), but hearing Mike Milbury – the guy who probably ruined DiPietro’s career by picking him in the first place – chuckle and talk about that particular fight made me cringe.

I’m taking a wait-and-see on Klein, but several analysts are very underwhelmed with him. If the team had run out of patience with MDZ and didn’t see enough of an upside to keep him, why trade him for a 29-year-old who will make almost $3 million for the next four years? Why not trade him for a draft pick instead?

It seems we have already committed to a guy who hasn’t played a game for them. And this isn’t the NFL, where we could release him after the season if we didn’t like what we saw.

If Stralman is playing top four minutes now, he’s going to look at Klein’s contract and think that’s the going rate for a 5-6….and he’s going to want a substantial raise.

And to those who say cut him loose, who do you plan to replace him with? Falk? McIlrath on one leg?

Not Cam Fowler — Olympian. 22 years old. Fourth year in the NHL. Could have had him, if Sather didn’t try to prove how much smarter he is than everyone else.

Sorry for the rant. It just seems like a more expensive lateral move, not a step up, under the guise of aligning the lefties and righties.

_Nash was credited with the game-winning goal in four straight games in which he scored a goal from Jan. 10 vs. Dallas to Jan. 19 vs. Washington, becoming the first Blueshirt to do so since Tom Poti in 2003-04_

The more I think about this trade, the more I think it boils down like this:

In the short term, we definitely have improved. In the long term, we may have hurt our team, not only because of MDZ’s potential (which some here question and I’m not looking to debate that), but because of our team’s salary structure on defense. This trade probably costs us Stralman, and if Klein declines young, then he will be the new king of the WBM.

Overall, I’m angry about this trade because it displays terrible asset management. If we had sold high on MDZ after 11-12, or even during 11-12, what do we get in return? Pittsburgh got James Neal and Matt Niskanen for Alex Goligoski, and he hadn’t done half of what MDZ had done at that point, didn’t have the same draft pedigree, and was older.

Furthermore, I’ve seen the idea floated around that the reason they passed on Fowler was because they had MDZ. While I’m not sure I buy that, it may certainly be true, and would be just another sign of ineptitude on behalf of our team’s management. Let’s not forget: They drafted MDZ only two years after blowing a pick on Sanguinetti.

Given MDZ’s buzz when he was drafted as an OH-fensive Dman, and then witnessing his sizzle no steak performance as a point producer in the NHL, I can’t help but wonder if his junior stats weren’t wildly inflated by playing on the same team — and PP — as Stamkos.

McIlrath was a bust from the moment he was drafted. The guy can’t skate. He’s never been able to skate well, and now he’s had two major knee injuries. He’s not good.

I also wasn’t crazy about MDZ when he was drafted (I thought Carlson was the better defenseman), but he has played about 290 games in this league so far. For about 160 of them, he was either a promising rookie, or a VERY promising third year player. For the other 130, he looked like a bust. Seeing as how he’s got 160 NHL games of looking like a promising young player,while McIlrath has 79 professional games where he looks to be more John Scott than Scott Stevens, I think it’s totally fair to hold them to different standards.

BTW, at MDZ’s draft position, I thought Tyler Ennis was the best available player, so getting one thing right out of two isn’t bad, right?

stemmer – agree; sort of like Gomer Pylon scoring 3 goals with Pens since pick up
Wasn’t happening here – the scout watch tape and go to games – they saw what we saw – kid was slow, scared, and stupid with puck.

Cam Fowler benefits more from playing on a very good team than the very good team benefits from him playing on it. He is the Ducks’ Michael Del Zotto. Switch their drafting destinations and MDZ is probably superstar material and Fowler is fouler material. BTW there is a reason that so many other teams passed on Fowler. Check out their stats and see for yourself how similar they are:

Sauer wasn’t a great skater but he was competent. McIlrath is not just “not a great skater” he is a straight up bad skater. Bad. The opposite of good. He makes Jeff Beukeboom look like Scott Niedermayer.

Sauer also got a 3 game taste of the NHL when he was 21 and didn’t make enough of an impression until 2 years down the road. Probably considered a bust at the time, too. Defensive d-men take longer to develop, or at least, they aren’t given the time at the NHL level. You can argue that he shouldn’t have been a 1st round pick, but I’m not calling him Jessiman yet.

Well, I slept on the deal and like it even more this morning. Good move no matter what mdz does in the future because his future wasn’t with the rangers.

I also agree with some of you re mcilrath. I think he is still young and has come off of 2 knee injuries (one major). If healthy I think next year should (better be) his year to make the big club. Paired with j Moops would be a very good pair.

_Sauer wasn’t a great skater_
By now means was Sauer Jeff Skinner like in his skating. He had a GREAT out let pass to start break, would clear the crease and had a decent shot from point.
Played hard all the time. He and McD would have been a dream pairing for all time.

Can we all agree that McIlrath will go on to be decent but not spectacular somewhere else? He has all the makings of a guy who gets judged not by his performance, but by his draft slot. 3rd round McIlrath would be loved, 1st round McIlrath would be a bust.

Mister D, but that makes a huge difference. That’s my whole problem with McIlrath. If he’s a third rounder and doesn’t develop, no big deal. But we had the opportunity to draft Cam Fowler. He was the obvious choice. It wasn’t like “oh I prefer player A and someone else prefers player B and someone else prefers player C.” It was black and white. Fowler was the choice and they just blew it.

McIlrath was not a first round talent, let alone the 10th overall pick.

At some point, if he can get his knee issue straightened out, he might be a 3rd pairing guy that drops the gloves a lot. Theo Peckham or Matt Carkner. Something like that.

Mister D, that’s not true. Going back to 2001, which was Sather’s first draft, I loved Blackburn, Montoya (but hated Korpikoski), Staal, and Cherepanov. I liked MDZ, Kreider, and Skjei. I had MDZ and Kreider both third highest on my board at the time they were drafted, so I didn’t think they were bad picks, I just would’ve taken someone else instead. The thing about Kreider is he was listed as a center at the time he was drafted which is why I had actually moved him down because I thought we needed more size and scoring on the wing. If he had been listed as a winger he probably would have been first on my board at that time. Skjei wasn’t really on my radar, but that far down in the first, it’s hard to be critical of anyone. I liked what I heard about his skating though once he came to my attention.

I didn’t like JT Miller because I thought, and still think, his upside is a third liner, which I don’t think is the kind of player you spend a first round pick on. But I thought, and still think, that he will definitely be a good third line player, so he won’t be a total bust. Not like Tyler Biggs, who I was deathly afraid that the Rangers would select. That guy is going to be a total bust.

Saw elsewhere that Sather took Mac instead of Fowler because he expected MDZ to provide most of the offense on D, with Mac being his physical D complement. Made sense at the time. Looks like Mac could be the next one gone from around here. Not much future in being 10th on the team depth chart at the position.

Wicky, see I loved the Cherepanov pick because everyone left in the draft seemed so ordinary to me. I either wanted to trade our pick or take the gamble on his incredible upside.

I don’t think anyone can foresee the tragedy that befell him. But I saw nothing about him that I didn’t like, other than the lack of commitment to coming to North America. And when Jagr went over to the KHL and was playing with Cherepanov, I thought for sure he was going to pan out. Such a shame for him.

I mean, that’s partly my draft philosophy. If we are picking in the back half of the first round (and unless the draft is like 2003 or 2013 where it goes 20-25 deep), I just want to draft the kid with the most upside. Depth players abound in the later rounds. I openly acknowledge it isn’t a given you get them later, but I want to take a shot on the guy that will be a real game changer. Those guys are VERY rare later in the draft.

I mean, even looking at our drafts from the last decade, how many guys from the 2nd round or later have played for us? At least ten. But how many of those guys have been elite players? The closest are probably Stepan and Callahan, and their both best suited as 2nd liners. Lundqvist was our one late gem.

I want to take a shot at the first line/first pairing talent when I have it.

Doodie
Cheraponov was indeed a tragedy, I just didn’t like his work ethic/playing style at all, he was talented for sure, but I just saw lazy one zone player. Trading out would have been good IMHO (I don’t remember who went after him in that draft)

I hear you on the lazy/one zone criticism. It’s why he fell in the draft (that and the North America commitment issues). But I just was enamored with his boat load of skill. Would I have taken him 5th overall given my concerns? Probably not. But there’s more choices at that higher spot. But at 17? The risk was worth the reward for me there.

Looking back, I think I would have taken him as high as 13, with every guy that I would have taken ahead of him actually being drafted in those first 16 spots.

It’s easy to play arm chair quarterback on a draft from 3 – 4 years ago.

Unless they are seriously in the top 10 talent.

You have to wonder if Yakapov will live up to #1 pick over all. But he sure put up a lot of points in juniors.

I liked what I saw out of Fowler. He was in the top 5 USA defenseman list. I watch the U18 play for the gold medal. Forbort (LA Kings pick)had committed to UND, and Fowler was playing with him.

Fowler had everything you could ask for, a good shot from the blue line, played against the top line, shut down Tarasenko (Blues Pick), and over all the best player on Defense out of anyone that day. USA wins Gold.

Let me float this all by you in terms of Sather’s bad asset management and selling low on MDZ. coming out of 11-12, if we offer Dubi and MDZ for Nash instead of Anisimov, Erixon and a 1st, don’t you think that gets the deal done?

Agreed, Doodie, on Cherapanov. He’s a guy who you hate taking at the right time but have to take when its past time.

(I was just back reading some of the old draft threads and it was a lot of fun. I missed the Skjei draft because of a rehearsal dinner and last year’s because of the Nash trade so I’m now pre-fired up for this year. And you (Doodie) were pretty consistent in your opinions listed above, so props. I nailed the Miller pick, but that was simply “I like his scouting report!”. Wicky *LOVED* McIlrath.)

I’m sure Columbus jumps, but MDZ coming out of 2011-12 is a really valuable player, not a guy you give up in a partial salary dump. It’ll take a year or more to prove, but I fully expect him to go back to that really valuable player when he’s not being jerked around anymore. Regular time, not getting benched for things other D are allowed to play through, left side only, back on the PP. The trade was bad asset management, but the team started messing with their asset well before that.

Grimaldi was my guy in 2011 over Miller, again, hoping to cash in on his elite skill set, even if he’s a total shrimp. I know he’s one of Sioux’s favorites. But really, trading that pick away would have been ideal.

I honestly can’t remember who I wanted instead of Skjei. Collberg, Pearson, or Kerdiles, maybe? I was upset that Gaunce went just before us. And really pissed that we were within sniffing distance of Maata. I would have traded up to get him in the 19-21 range. But no way would Pitt have traded with us. Teravainen is another guy I definitely would have traded up for, but to get up to where he was selected would have taken a serious amount of assets.

Sioux, too hard to tell if it is, simply because of the effect of having the switch from left handed to right handed on the third pair. If this was MDZ for Gardiner or a pick, then I think it would be easier to see a 1 to 1 comparison of MDZ vs. No MDZ.

You know, it makes sense for the Olympics to choose a right or left handed player when you have a veritable plethora of proven talent to choose from. In the real NHL, however, seeking a 3 million dollar player based largely on lefty/righty is a tacit admission of the unavailability and dearth of real talent at the position you’re trying to fill. That said, I like our new guy in comparison to our ‘old’ guy.

I hear ya, Doodie, and we can’t put anything past Sather. I would have liked Franson because he hits, plays the PP, and is right-handed, but I’m not sure if he was available. He would have given them another reason to buy out Ricahrds.

I still sort of have trouble figuring out why people who hated DZ love Moore. Same basic draft pedigree, almost the same age (DZ 5 months older) and we treat one like a bust (despite a great season and a seemingly obvious excuse for current issues) and one we treat like it would be soooooo0 great if he were our 3LD forever.

Just watched the interview on Blueshirt United and he struck me as having the same type of demeanor as Adam Graves; soft spoken, articulate, etc. Could some of that translate to the way he plays? To be determined!

Doodie, Franson would have certainly taken more than MDZ, and maybe more than a mid-level prospect (pick, better prospect, etc.). But, he’d fill a few needs, so I’d be willing to give up more than for a one-dimensional defensive banger.

“The Rangers had no such trepidation. Or, if they did, it was trumped by their excitement at the prospect of getting a potential NHL star so late in the first round. Particularly one who plays up front, where the franchise has little top-end talent in the system.
“We had a couple of defensemen we had our eyes on, but we’ve got some stockpiled,” Clark said. “I really wanted to get a forward out of this draft, because my job is to get it ready, I think, for the post-(Jaromir) Jagr stage of the Rangers.”

You are struggling, you have at least a couple of serious brain-locks per game, you will not take a hit to make a play, you insist on playing only one side despite the team’s needs, and you send your agents to Slats to demand either playing time or a trade, and the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls.

Coos: Half of your list hinges on the same thing, partially wrongly. He didn’t refuse the right side, he said he was uncomfortable, which was plain to see. He still played there and his game suffered. Then he got bashed repeatedly for “regressing”.

If I make you type with one hand then start getting on you for typing too slow, whose fault is it?

_MD, I get your argument, but he played the left side in 2010-11 and most of last year (the times he’s generally considered to have struggled) before they got Moore, didn’t he?_

Well, in 2010-11 he was a 20 year old, so I have trouble holding much against him. Last year, I think you’re right, he didn’t switch until after the trade. I also don’t think he was really that bad last year and the stats sort of bear that out. When it all fell apart this year, it was with him play off side.

BTW, kudos to Brian McGratton for fighting McIlrath. There’s a guy who gets it. McGratton gains nothing from tuning up McIlrath (which he absolutely did), but risks a serious knock to his reputation if he loses. Still, he knows the kid is trying to make a name for himself and gave him the chance to do so. Class move.

With you, Gravy. We talk about young Johnnie Moore (5 months younger) and what McDonagh will be when he fully develops (1 year older) and our good young forwards like Stepan (same age) and Hags (2 years older) but for some reason MDZ was a fully developed piece of garbage who obviously peaked at 21. Will forever elude me. The first time Callahan broke single digit goals in the NHL he was older than MDZ is right now.

I like the trade, but I wouldn’t be shocked if this is written about MotZ in two years:

Niskanen, who combined for 61 points over his first two seasons in the NHL, including a career high 35 in 2008-09, had seen his offensive production dry up and fallen out of favor with the coaching staff leading up to the trade.

He arrived in Pittsburgh a wide-eyed 24-year-old, a bit overwhelmed by coach Dan Bylsma’s system. Teammates and coaches helped get him up to speed and he went on to average 18:33 of ice time per night over the final 18 games of the 2010-11 season.

At the time no one could have foreseen what Niskanen would become upon regaining his confidence and spending large chucks of time skating as the Penguins’ No. 1 defenseman while multiple teammates spent time on the shelf due to injury this season.

Maybe turns out El Zotto needed a torts riding his arse to play with some conviction and somewhat mature. vino doesn’t seem to be the hand holding type and if he thought El Zotto was more interested in showing videos of his trip to Ibiza than learning how to move the puck out of the zone properly,

He wasn’t a shut down defenseman like McD or Girardi.
He wasn’t a power play quarterback.
He didn’t have the big shot from the blue line.
He didn’t have a great first pass, lots of bombs that didn’t make the target.
He could shoot the puck, but how many missed the net? It’s a game of inches, and HOW MANY missed by “that” much.

You can do it Zotto! You can do it Zotto! Help each other out, that will be our motto! Make 2nd pair, I’ll give you free gelato! Get back to my place, where I will get you blotto! Domo Arigato, Mister Roboto!